Free Pleasure for Pleasure by Jamie Sobrato

didn’t,” Josie muttered away from the receiver.
    Her mother either didn’t hear or ignored it.
    â€œOr maybe I’ll let him pleasure me, but I won’t touch him. Oohh, that could be fun.”
    â€œDid you call me at 3:00 a.m. to tell me this?”
    â€œOh, I almost forgot. I’m calling because I need you to take Eros to the vet for his yearly checkup. I was just looking in my appointment book and saw that his vet visit is scheduled for this Wednesday at eleven…”
    Her mother continued to talk, but Josie didn’t hear her. She sat bolt upright in bed, her pulse racing. Eros! When was the last time she’d seen him?
    Think, Josie. Think.
    Not since early yesterday evening, before her “Great Sex After Sixty” seminar. She must have been so distracted by thoughts of Trent that she’d failed to noticethat he hadn’t shown up for dinner, or breakfast, or dinner again.
    Oh, for heaven’s sake, she would never forgive herself if something had happened to that cat. As poorly as she got along with Eros, it was her job to take care of him, and she’d failed. Her mother would never forgive her, either.
    When Rafaela finally stopped talking, Josie said a hurried goodbye and jumped out of bed, grabbed the jeans on a nearby chair and tugged them on. Her nightshirt was a cotton-and-lace camisole, still damp from her heated dreams, but it would have to do for street wear for now.
    Where could the cat be? He liked to wander, but he faithfully showed up for mealtimes without fail. He was staying at Lovers for Life while her mother was gone, because Josie was allergic and couldn’t keep him in her apartment, but she definitely hadn’t seen him there in the past day and a half.
    Horrific images flashed through her mind—all the awful things that could happen to the poor animal if he’d wandered outside and then couldn’t get back in. She had to get to the center immediately to start looking for him. Maybe he’d just gotten shut in a storage closet. Or maybe not. But she couldn’t rest as long as she was worrying about him.
    She jammed her feet into a pair of sandals and headed for the front door, grabbing her purse along the way. When she got to the door, she remembered that she didn’t have a key to the center, not since Erika had lost hers and borrowed Josie’s to open up in the mornings.
    Great, now she’d have to wait until morning. Or call Erika and wake her up. She gnawed her lip for a few moments before making up her mind. She’d call Erikaand apologize profusely for the rude late-night interruption.
    She grabbed the cordless phone from an end table and dialed. But the phone rang and rang, and rang some more. No answer at Erika’s house.
    Josie let out a frustrated roar and fumbled with the disconnect button, then slammed the phone on the wall a few times for emphasis.
    Okay, what could she do now? She could go out and search the area around the center for Eros, but that was definitely not safe. She could try to jimmy the lock at the center, but she hadn’t a clue how to go about doing it. Or…
    She could call the landlord and ask for his key. The landlord she’d been having lurid dreams about moments ago. The idea tumbled around in her head for a few minutes before she decided she would do it. The alternative, waiting until morning, could mean the difference between life and death for Eros, and she had to do all she could to find him and keep him safe.
    If it wasn’t too late already.
    That thought sent her fumbling through her address book for Trent’s number and, without stopping to reconsider, she punched the numbers into her phone. It rang once, twice, three times before she heard a sleepy “Hello?” on the other end of the line.
    â€œTrent, it’s me, Josie. I’m sorry to be calling so late.”
    â€œJosie?”
    She heard fumbling, the sound of the phone being jostled